


A Light that Flickers Through Sea Glass

by tatertotarmy



Category: Harvest Moon: Animal Parade
Genre: Bokumono Spring Exchange 2020, But Not Much, Character Study, F/M, barely there, can be interpreted as friendship if that's your jam, mostly a character study on calvin, very lowkey shipping on calvin's end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatertotarmy/pseuds/tatertotarmy
Summary: ”Hey Calvin…?””Hm?” The strumming stopped.”If you do find the treasure...what are you going to do?”A look of confusion crossed his face, and he looked back over to Molly, “Well...find something else to discover, of course.”Molly chuckled, “But...where, exactly? Like...if you found all the adventures you could here...what would you do?”--Written for the BokuMono Spring Exchange 2020
Relationships: Calvin the Adventurer/Molly the Farmer (Harvest Moon)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Bokumono Exchanges





	A Light that Flickers Through Sea Glass

_”So what are you looking for down in the mines, anyway?”_

_Calvin chuckled, his fingers relaxing over the strings of his guitar as he looked over at the young woman beside him. Molly, the curious farmer who always seemed to find exactly where he was playing guitar, no matter what. Even if it was in the bare fields of Castanet in the early morning._

_”Adventure. Jus’ want to find what I can find.” Calvin looked back down to his guitar. “Expectin’ somethin’ different?”_

_Molly smiled, “No...I was just curious if there was some grand treasure or something down there. You’re always popping in the mines, after all. Never anywhere else.”_

_”Ah, you’ve been keepin’ an eye on me, haven’t ya?”_

_She laughed half-heartedly. “Maybe a little. So? Did I guess correct?”_

_Calvin sighed, looking out towards the sea as a breeze strolled in, rustling around the grass and brushing through the trees. In truth, he had heard many curious things about Castanet, all of which he was curious about for different reasons. Rumors of servants of the Harvest Goddess scurrying around unseen. The bells that brought nature back to its correct course. But the one he was most interested in, the one that kept him on Castanet to begin with…_

_Well, perhaps he could give her a reward for guessing._

_”Maybe…” Calvin finally continued, flashing Molly a small smile. “Rumor has it that somewhere around Castanet lies a vast underground treasure, and the last-known entrance was within the mines. Of course...there are many differing accounts of it…”_

_”A treasure?” Molly blinked, another little wave of curiosity buzzing across her face (always wore her heart on her sleeve, eh?), “What kind of treasure?”_

_”Hard to say…” Calvin brushed his fingers across the strings, letting a small chord fall in harmony with the breeze, “I’ll tell you when I find it myself.”_

_A bright smile crossed her face as she looked out towards the horizon, “Or maybe I’ll tell you first.”_

_”Oh? You in the adventure business as well?”_

_”Between watering plants and feeding Moomoo, maybe.”_

_Calvin flashed another smile, strumming a few more chords, “Well then, suppose we’ll see who finds it first. If the rumors are true.” He couldn’t help but imagine what Molly would do if she found it first. Not that he was about to give up the chase._

_”Well, that’s the fun of it, right?”_

_”Exactly.”_

_The two fell into a comfortable silence, Calvin continuing to pluck out a tune on his guitar. He wasn’t the greatest in the world, and a far cry from the most talented, but it helped relax himself. Helped busy his fingers when he wasn’t out digging in the dirt like he wanted to. Sometimes, occupying his fingers could produce something similar to music, which was enough for him._

_He began to fiddle with a few notes. A C minor. An A. An E…_

_”Hey Calvin…?”_

_”Hm?” The strumming stopped._

_”If you do find the treasure...what are you going to do?”_

_A look of confusion crossed his face, and he looked back over to Molly, “Well...find something else to discover, of course.”_

_Molly chuckled, “But...where, exactly? Like...if you found all the adventures you could here...what would you do?”_

_Calvin blinked, staring at her a while. The natural answer came to him - that of course he would move on to find greater opportunities - but something kept him from saying anything. It felt like there was something stuck in his throat, blocking the thought to be voiced at all._

_Silence lingered again, this time uncomfortably. Sitting over them. He looked forward, keeping his eyes off of her. His grip tightened on the neck of the guitar, the strings pressing uncomfortably into his fingertips._

_Finally, he chuckled, “What indeed…”_

Hours after the conversation, as Calvin walked through the Garmon Lower Mine, his mind couldn’t help but linger back to it with every other footstep. Back to the implications of that conversation. After all, he didn’t lie. He was an adventurer, through and through, searching for more things to discover and more treasures to find. So the natural decision would be to move on, like he had done with so many towns before. And yet...when she asked about it…

The hundredth sigh parted through his lips as he descended down another level of the mines. Honestly, what had gotten into him? Getting lost in thought like this did no good when he was out in the mines. It could get him lost, hurt, or even worse, and he wasn’t one to risk getting trapped in a place where not even the curious little farmer could find him. 

Calvin reached up, adjusting his hat and taking in a deep breath. Focus. It was just another day in the mines, looking to see what he could find. 

He paused for a while, focusing as much as he could before he began again, weaving through rocks and gemstone-engraved walls that, for some reason, called little interest to him. Instead, he thought again to the rumor he heard time and time again. The underwater treasure that could only be accessed by the mines. Truly a remarkable thing to see. Some of the rumors even said that one could breathe there without any trouble. 

Of course Calvin thought that was the most far-fetched of the rumors, though he couldn’t set it down until it was proven false. 

Instead, he imagined what it could look like in his eyes. Taking the best parts of rumors and stories and the worst parts out to pasture. A bubble of air beneath the waves...a cave entrance opening up to a vast expanse of artifacts and treasures. He would take as much as he could to study them through and through. And then…

Calvin descended another flight of stairs. 

And then...what?

He blinked, looking over towards the underground spring he had encountered several times before. Without a second thought, he walked over to the side and knelt beside it. He took off his hat and set it aside, and he leaned down to splash his face with some water. 

What would he do then, when the adventure was over?

The underground trove was perhaps the biggest mystery in Castanet. He couldn’t think of anything else he wanted to find more of. So naturally, he would need to find something else, right? Go off to another town before the discoveries stagnated. If he stayed...he would only run out of things to discover.

Though...was that such a bad thing, in the end?

Calvin looked at himself in the reflection of the water, picking apart the wavy image of himself long and hard. Tracing the small but present wrinkles lining his face. The small bags beneath his eyes from another long night. Just how different and older he looked compared to when he first set out on this lifestyle. A young man who wanted to see the world and discover its secrets, without a care for anything else. Just how many years had it been between now and then? Was the hesitance just a result of an older man’s want to settle down somewhere? Or something else?

Harmonica Town was a nice little place, with lots of nice little people. Just as many other towns that came before it. Quaint little towns that offered quaint little hospitalities. It wasn’t a place Calvin would mind settling down in. But the question was the why. He could still wander for years to come, go to more places he hadn’t seen before. And yet…

Calvin took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. It was a puzzle in his head, one with a thousand missing pieces that he couldn’t possibly hope to solve. 

He sat there for a while longer, thinking a little more. And then, he felt a breeze.

He raised an eyebrow, looking up and around the room. Mines were supposed to be stagnant, completely closed off from the winds above. Just where exactly…?

Another breeze swept through, pulling his hat away from his hands, letting it fall to the water. 

“Oh…!” Calvin reached forward desperately as the hat began to float away much faster than it should have. He reached further and further, leaning as far as he could on land. His fingertips were only centimeters away, so close he could barely feel the fabric. 

And then, he lost his balance. Soon, he was completely submerged in the water. Calvin flailed a little bit, the chill shocking him for a moment, but soon emerged. He huffed, grabbing his hat and turning back towards the rocky shore of the underground spring. Just what he needed...he couldn’t very well go exploring like this. Looked like this day would just be…

Just as he put his hand on the rocks, he felt a pulling in the water. A current. 

He stopped, looking down to the water. He could _feel_ the direction, and he followed it with his eyes, trying to look as far as he could with what the water allowed him to see. Along the back wall of the room, just beneath the water, he could see a small opening. It would be a squeeze for someone like him...but it looked just large enough for him to get through.

A curious smile crossed his lips. Well well, what did he have there...?

Swimming around in the water wasn’t usually his style. But maybe he should have expected it from the prize he was planning to get. If things got a little too much for him, he could take a break and prepare for a longer trek. 

But for now...just a little swim wouldn’t hurt, right?

Calvin bunched up his hat and shoved it into his now-soaked bag, and he set his bag up on the rocks. At least if something happened, he would leave a little trail for whoever else got down this far. Then he swam over to where he saw the underwater opening. He examined it again at a closer look...and then he took in a deep breath, diving beneath the water and squeezing through the opening in the rocks.

Though...it wasn’t simply an opening. It was more like a tunnel. And one that Calvin struggled to get through. It wasn’t so much like swimming...it was more like writhing around like a snake to squeeze through a tiny hole. But in front of him...he could see a light at the end. So he pushed and pushed, practically crawling through the tunnel of rocks. He held his breath as long as he could...and just when he thought he should turn back…

He reached the light. 

Calvin practically fell into a patch of sand, and he took in quick breaths the second he touched air. He took a long moment to just collect himself, shaking off the vague feelings of claustrophobia and breathlessness, and finally looked up.

And what he saw took his breath away yet again.

He was...underwater. Sitting on a patch of sand on the bottom of the ocean, watching the light flicker through a filter of water, spread away in a dome surrounding the exit of the tunnel. Calvin looked down at the sand, finding only a collection of sea glass around him, all beautifully reflecting the light and shining bright like finely polished jewels. There was a small blanket in the center of the space, giving Calvin the impression that someone visited. But he was completely alone. Beneath the water.

Calvin stared for a long while, letting it sink in. He found it. There wasn’t necessarily treasure here...but he found it. The place rumored to be beneath the island of Castanet. 

A wave of excitement passed through him as light flickered down on his face...but it didn’t last. And as he always felt at the peak of discovery, he began to wonder what was next. But this time...it didn’t feel exactly good.

What was next?

He looked up at the water above, reaching up and dipping his finger into it. Again, he was at that question. And again, he hardly knew why he felt so morose about it? Maybe he was just becoming a sentimental old man, wanting to settle down. But that didn’t seem exactly true. After all, he scarcely would think of himself as a curmudgeon just yet. 

Calvin absentmindedly picked up one of the many pieces of sea glass scattered in the sand, raising it up and looking through it. It was brown, and a beautiful shade at that. Like the bark of the tall trees in the forest. An earthy tone, with the light revealing several spots inside that gave it character. 

Funny...it reminded him of someone.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. Just what would Molly think, for him to find this place so soon after their conversation? What would she think to be down here, looking up at the surface from the perspective of a fabled mermaid beneath the sea? 

And why exactly was Calvin’s curiosity piqued just at thinking of those questions? 

Why did Calvin feel so curious...that it made him want to stay? 

So...was that it?

Calvin lowered the piece of sea glass, looking down at it in the palm of his hand. Was that why he was so reluctant to go so soon? That there was a curiosity for not a place...but for a _someone_ that kept him here? He did admit that watching the plucky farmer work on her farm and go through the trials and tribulations always made him wonder. Would she succeed? Would the farm grow as she wanted it to? What else would she do?

He smiled, wrapping the sea glass protectively up in his hand. He relaxed his back on the wall behind him, looking up at the sea.

Well...if that was how he felt...then maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe staying to satiate that curiosity...to watch what else Molly would do...it was something worth staying for. 

He took in a deep breath and let it out. He wouldn’t tell her what he found that day. Instead...he would take up the sea glass...and say that he was close. Give it to her as a gift.

And maybe he could see what she would do then.


End file.
